Carlos Eduardo Espina
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- United States
- Uruguay[1]
Carlos Eduardo Espina | |
|---|---|
 Espina in 2025 | |
| Born | December 9, 1998 Montevideo, Uruguay |
| Citizenship |
|
| Years active | 2020–present |
| Known for | Immigrant rights activism |
Political party | Democratic |
| Instagram information | |
| Page | |
| Followers | 1.95 million |
| TikTok information | |
| Page | |
| Followers | 13.8 million |
| Last updated: October 18, 2025 | |
| Website | carloseduardoespina |
Carlos Eduardo Espina (born December 9, 1998) is a Uruguayan and American social media personality and activist, based in Houston, Texas.[2][3]
Born in Montevideo, Uruguay to a Uruguayan father and a Mexican mother, Espina migrated with his family to Texas. He studied political science at Vassar College, graduating in 2020. Espina graduated in 2024 with a law degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.[4]
Since his teens, Espina has been an advocate for socially disadvantaged people, and promoted the creation of NGOs. In June 2017, he created Football for the Future,[5] a volunteer-run nonprofit that hosted a free, annual summer camp in the Bryan-College Station area, aiming to provide low-income Central Texas kids with free soccer and educational programs. The summer camp ran from 2017 to 2019, and had plans set for 2020, but announced its cancellation in May 2020 due to an increasing number of COVID-19 cases among the community. As of May 2025, the nonprofit's status is unknown. In October 2019, he established the Detained Refugee Solidarity Fund, with the purpose of supporting migrants and refugees detained in ICE detention centers.[6] In December 2020, he was described as a "mailman for immigrants" (Spanish: El cartero de los inmigrantes) for his benevolence, writing letters to those detained and using the funds raised from the Detained Refugee Solidarity Fund to send US$15 alongside the letters, enabling detainees to contact their families.[7]
Currently, he is a social media content creator, posting to a combined 20 million followers across TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook as of May 2025.[2][1][8]
In June 2024, Espina was summoned by Vice President Kamala Harris, and shortly afterwards, by President Joe Biden.[9] On August 21, 2024, Espina delivered a speech at the 2024 Democratic National Convention.[10][8]
In March 2026, Espina released Estados Detenidos[11], a short documentary film featuring testimonies from families affected by ICE raids during the second Trump administration.[12]
